Coupling-yoke.



E. H. SCHMIDT. COUPLINGYOKE. APPLICATION FILED ocnzs, m4.

Patnted 12, 19m

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. H. SCHMIDT.

COUPLING YOKE.

APPLICATION FILED ocLza. 1914 Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. H. SCHMIDT.

COUPLING YOKE.

APPUCATION man ocnzs. 1 914.

Patented h? 12,- 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WM 9% I r M ..n+ u mm 1 M %N M s\ @N m m 721f mm cw m mmw 43% ART FIWE.

ERNEST H. SCHMIDT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONALMALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

COUPLING-YOKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ERNEST H. SCHMIDT, acitizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, Cuyahoga county,Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Coupling-Yokes, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan, partly in section,showing my improved yoke applied to the underframing of a car; Fig. 2 isa side elevation thereof partly in section; Fig. 2 is an elevationsimilar to Fig. 2 containing a modification thereof; Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a section 011lines IV-IV of Fig. 1, partly in elevation; Fig. 5 is a bottom viewthereof partly broken away; Fig. 6 is a detail of the forward end of thelower yoke arm; Fig. 7 is an elevation of a modified form of connectionbetween the parts of the yoke ;'Fig. 8 is a plan thereof, partly insection; and Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 show respectively an elevation, abottom view, a section on lines XI-XI of Fig. 9 and a section on linesXIIXII of Fig. 9 of a further modification of my invention. I

My invention relates to yokes of the type in which either the coupler orthe yoke or draft gear is removable independently and provides a strong,simple and convenient form of yoke, which can be readily connected to ordisconnected from the coupler without necessitating the removal ofeither from the car. My invention also consists in the construction andcooperation of the parts, which I shall hereinafter describe and claim.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates a coupler butt, B the upper ormain portion of the yoke, and C the bottom or lower arm of the yoke. Themain portion B of the yokehas at its forward end a downwardly projectinglip 2 and at either side of the lip 2 downwardly extending webs 3. Therear end of the part B is formed into a vertically extending member 4,the lowermost extremity 5 of which is reduced in width and provided withan aperture 6. The lower or removable arm C of the yoke has an upwardlyextending lip 7 at its forward end and a bifurcated jaw 8 at its rearend, which takes about the reduced lower end 5 of the portion 4 of thepart B, and the faces 9 of which bear against the shoulders 10 on theportion 4. Through the jaw 8 are formed apertures 11 which are intendedto be brought in' register with the aperture 6 of the portion 4 of thepart B. The forward end of the removable member C is also provided withlaterally-extending flanges 12,12, which have recesses 13 therein forthe reception of laterally extending projections 14 on the lower ends ofthe webs 3. The yoke is applied to the car as follows:

The main portion B of the yoke is placed under the car and is held inposition by jacks or other convenient means. The coupler butt A is thenplaced in position with the upper forward face 15 of the coupler linerblock between the Webs 3 and against the lip 2. With the liner block inthis posi tion the followers 16 are placed against the rear member 4 andagainst the rear face of the coupler butt, and the draft gear is theninserted between the followers 16. The lower arm of the yoke isthen-raised so that its flanges 12 are forward of the webs 3 and theprojections 14 ,with which the webs are provided. The member G is thenmoved horizontally rearwardly, its body portion being between the webs3. When the apertures 6 and 11 are brought into register, the headedbolt 17 may be inserted. As the member C is moved rearwardly theprojections 14 on the webs 3 will engage the recesses 13 in the flanges12 and will interlock therewith, as is shown in Fig. 4. The lower face18 of the liner block will then bear against the lip 7, and the lips 2and 7 are held from spreading away from each other by the interlockingengagement of the flanges 12 with the projections 14, and the two yokemembers B and C will thus be firmly held against spreading, such as maybe caused by the pull of the coupler butt against the lips 2 and 7.Suflicient looseness is provided in the fit between the projection 14 ofthe webs 3 and the recesses 13 of the flanges 12 so that the jaw portion8 of the member C will pass the shoulders 10 on the portion 4 when beingassembled, without straining any of the interlocking parts.

As is shown in Fig. 2, if desired, pulling lugs 8- .on the lower arm Ccooperating with recesses 5 in the member 4*, may be employed to relievethe pin or bolt 17 from st ains during pulling.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown a modification of my device, in which theportion 4 has at its lower extremity a forward extension 19 and areduced portion 20 about which the jaws 8 of the member C fit and whichparts are suitably apertured for reception of a key 21 by which they aresecured together.

A further modification of my invention is shown in Figs. 9, 10, 11 and12, in which the lower arm C at its rear end is bifurcated and is formedinto upwardly turned hook shaped members 22, each of which engages arearwardly extending projection 23 on either side of the flange 24 atthe reduced lower extremity of the rear vertical portion 1 of the memberB The hook shaped members 22 have reinforcing webs 25, which bearagainst the outside faces of the projections 23, to prevent lateralmotion of the member C At its forward end the member C has laterallyextending flanges 12 in the upper faces of which are recesses 13 inwhich the downwardly extending projections 14 of the webs 3 are intendedto be seated, which prevents spreading of the webs 3 The lower ends ofthe webs 3 and the forward end of the lower yoke arm C also haveregistering apertures for reception of a headed pin or key 26, by whichthe forward end of the arm C is supported. As the hook shaped members 22and the projections 23 are of suflicient strength to take up the pullingstresses imposed upon the lower yoke arm C it is not necessary totransmit any of such stresses through the pin 26 to the member B andhence the fit of the pin 26 maybe sufficiently loose so thatit willreceive none of the pulling stresses. The lower yoke arm C isdisengaged, after removal of the pin 26, either by compressing the draftgear and moving arm C first rearwardly so that the hook shaped members22 will be free from engagement with the projections 23, or by loweringthe forward end of the yoke arm until it is out of engagement with thecoupler butt and then moving it rearwardly until the members'22 are outof engagement with the projections 23. It may then be lowered.

One of the advantages-of my invention is that it permits the lateralremoval of the pin or key while the yoke is attached to the car withoutnecessitating the cutting away of the draft sills. A further advantagelies in the fact that the removal of the lower yoke arm does notinterfere with the coupler carrier iron, since, in removing the loweryoke arm C, it is necessary to move it forward only so far as isnecessary to disengage the projections 14 from the recesses 13 in theflanges 12, in which position the lower arm C can be lowered withoutinterference with the remainder of the yoke, the draft rigging or thecoupler, which permits free access to these parts.

Further, as the pin 17, connecting the parts B and C, is almost directlyin line with the pull against the lip 7, there is little tendency forthe lower yoke member C to bend under pulling stresses. I have alsofound that the pin or hook forms an efficient and practical means forholding the yoke and coupler in engagement, thus obviating thenecessity'of other securing members.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in theconstructions which I have shown and described herein without departingfrom my invention.

. What I claim is:

1. A coupler yoke comprising two forwardly extending arms, said armsbeing secured together at their forward and rear ends, one of saidsecuring means comprising a pin and slot connection and the other ofsaid securing means comprising a projec tion and recess engagement ofthe parts, the lower arm being adapted to be disengaged by an initial.longitudinal movement thereof without disturbing the draft rigging.

2. A coupler yoke having two parallel arms, the upper arm having at itsfront and rear ends depending members, one of said depending membershaving a longitudinally disposed slot and projection engagement with anend of the lower yoke arm, and the other of said depending membershaving a pin and slot engagement with the other end of the lower yokearm, the lower yoke arm being adapted to be disengaged from thedepending members by a longitudinal movement without disturbing thedraft rigging.

3. A coupler yoke comprising two parallel arms, one arranged above theother, members depending from the ends of the upper yoke arm, hookshaped members on one end of the lower yoke arm engaging projections onone of said depending members, the other end of the lower yoke arm beingsecured to the otherof said depending members by a pin seated inapertures in both arms, the hook-shaped members being adapted to bedisengaged from the projections by a longi tudinal movement of the loweryoke arm.

4. A coupler yoke comprising two parallel arms arranged in a verticalplane, the upper arm having at its forward end downwardly extending websadapted to inclose the sides of a coupler liner block and at its rearend a downwardly extending portion, the lower yoke arm having a pullingengagement with the vertical extension and at its forward end having aprojection and slot engagement with the lower ends of the webs dependingfrom the upper arm to prevent spreading.

5. A coupler yoke having two parallel arms arranged in a vertical plane,the upper yoke arm having at its forward end downwardly extending Webs,lateral extensions on the lower ends of the webs engaging lateralrecesses in the lower yoke arm, the said recesses being adapted to beengaged and disengaged from said extensions by a longitudinal movementof the lower yoke arm, and means for operatively connecting the rearends of the two arms.

6. A coupler-yoke, comprising a plurality of arms, each of said armshaving a shoulder engaging a forward face of a coupler liner block andbeing adapted to receive pulling strains therefrom the said arms beingconnected at one end by a removable member and by an interlockingengagement with each other at their other ends, the lower arm beingdisengageable from the coupler liner block and from its interlock withthe upper arm by an initial longitudinal movement without disturbing thedraft-rigging.

7 A coupler yoke comprising a body portion consisting of an upper yokearm having at its rear end' a downward extension forming a bearing for afollower and at its forward end downwardly-extending Webs, and aremovable member consisting of a lower yoke arm having disengageable'connections with the downward extension and the webs in the samehorizontal plane below the plane of engagement with the followers,

' disturbing the followers.

8. A coupler yoke comprising an upper and a lower arm, the upper armhaving at its forward end integral downwardly-extending webs, the lowerarm being separable from the upper arm, and a connection between thearms at their rear ends, and the lower arm being supported at itsforward end by a projection and recess engagemen with said webs.

9. A yoke comprising a plurality of parallel arms, connected at theirforward ends, and at their rear ends, one connection comprising atransversely removable member, and the other connection comprising arecess and projection engagement, said recess extending longitudinallyand being open at one end to permit disengagement of the projection by arelative longitudinal movement of said yoke arms.

10. In a coupler yoke, upper and lower arms, the lower arm having apulling engagement with a depending portion of the upper arm at one endthereof, depending webs on the opposite end of the upper arm withoutward extensions, and flanges on the lower arm, said Webs and flangesforming an interlock arranged in horizontal and vertical planes toprevent spreading of the yoke arms and webs.

11. A coupler yoke comprising an upper and a lower arm, the upper armhaving at its rear end a depending vertical portion, the lower armhaving a vertical bearing face engaging a corresponding face on thevertical portion to provide a pulling engagement between the arms, thevertical portions and the lower arm having registering apertures for aconnecting key, and means for securing the opposite ends of the armstogether.

12. A coupler yoke having an upper and a lower member, each of saidmembers being equipped with a coupler-engaging gib, the lower memberhaving at its forward end horizontally-extending flanges, andprojections on the upper member underlying the flanges and aflording asupport therefor.

13. A coupler yoke having an upper and a lower arm, each of said membersbeing equipped with a coupler-engaging gib, depending webs on the uppermember, and horizontally-extending flanges on the lower member arrangedin a horizontal axial plane thereof and lying without the dependingwebs.

14. A coupler yoke having an upper and a lower member, the upper memberhaving depending webs at its front end and a depending portion at itsrear end, the lower member being of T-shape, the arms of the Trestraining the webs from outward movement and being at the same timesupported by said webs, and the foot of the T being secured to thedepending portion at the rear end of the upper member.

ERNEST H. SCHMIDT.

Witnesses:

HARRY E. 001212, HUBERT L. SPENCE.

